For the first time since 2009, Hockey East will have a new champion.

On a night where the women’s hockey team suffered a heartbreaking overtime loss to Minnesota in the Frozen Four, the men’s team’s pursuit of a fourth-straight Hockey East crown came to an end.

The Boston University Terriers defeated the Boston College Eagles, 6-3, in the semifinals of the 2013 Hockey East Tournament. They will face the UMass-Lowell River Hawks on Saturday night for a chance to win the conference title.

Friday night’s contest started reasonably well for the Eagles, as BC jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a power play goal by Bill Arnold, and then took a second-period lead of 2-0 on a Quinn Smith goal on a redirection. At one point in the middle period, the Eagles had a 29-10 shot advantage and Boston College was putting consistent pressure on Terrier goalie Sean Maguire.

Then, with a little less than eight minutes to go in the second, the BC meltdown began. Evan Rodrigues of BU got his team on the board, and then, less than two minutes later, Matt Lane took advantage of a defensive breakdown to break away and tie the game at 2-2. With two minutes remaining in the period, Garrett Noonan notched a power play goal to give Boston University a 3-2 lead.

That would hardly be all. In fact, the Terriers would go on to score three consecutive power play goals, with the other two coming in the third period. Danny O’Regan netted them both, eventually putting BU ahead by a 5-2 score with only 11 minutes to go in the game. Steven Whitney got one back late for BC, but Evan Rodrigues scored an empty-net shorthanded goal to make it a 6-3 contest.

A collapse such as this is difficult to stomach for those who have followed Boston College hockey. Bad defense and penalties led to much of what ailed the Eagles; with 47 shots on goal, one cannot say they lacked for putting pucks on the net. If there was a problem with that, it came from BC’s inability to score on very good opportunities in the first half when they had chances to rip the game open early. The second half was a completely different story, as at about the midway point of the second period, the Terriers seized the momentum and never gave it back.

In the last 28 minutes of the game, Boston University outscored the Eagles 6-1 and hung three power play goals on one of the best kills in Hockey East. It was the sort of thing that cannot and should not happen to a team that intends to contend for a national title.

Boston College’s spot in the upcoming NCAA Tournament is secure, but once more, there are serious questions about how far this team can and will go. Previous Eagles teams struggled early in the winter but found another gear in February and March; this team has not. The Eagles are good and quite talented, but arguably not great, and their competition in the tournament will be fierce. BC will get to give this one more try in the national tourney, but after the team shockingly crumbled on Friday night, following months of up-and-down play, it seems like Trophy Season might not be much of a Trophy Season at all.

It was destined to happen this season, but records taste even sweeter when they come against a bitter rival.

On Saturday evening at Conte Forum, the #1 Boston College Eagles hockey team defeated the #9 Boston University Terriers, 5-2. The victory moves the Eagles to 11-2 (9-2) on the season, but importantly to the fans, a major milestone has been reached. Coach Jerry York has tied the all-time Division I wins record held by Ron Mason at 924. BC’s next win will make York the winningest coach in college hockey history.

In the first meeting of this home-and-home series on Friday night, Boston College did not entirely look listless, but they were much more flat than Boston University, who did a good job smothering the Eagles on defense and preventing an offensive rhythm. That was not the case at all on Saturday night, as BC played with a great deal more offensive intensity in BU’s zone and generated some quality pressure on Terrier goalie Matt O’Connor. The difference in energy level between Friday night and Saturday night for BC was noticeable.

Meanwhile, Boston University did put some pucks on Parker Milner of BC, but he stopped almost all the ones that came his way – though it wasn’t nearly as many as BC sent to O’Connor. The shots on goal were lopsided in favor of the Eagles, to the tune of a 36-23 margin.

The turning point of the contest came in the second period, when Boston College went on a 5-on-3 advantage. Freshman Mike Matheson of the Eagles blasted a laser shot past O’Connor during the 5-on-3, and then less than a minute later, Bill Arnold scored on the subsequent power play to balloon BC’s lead from 2-1 to 4-1; the Eagles never looked back.

Boston College had a superb night on the power play, scoring four goals when they had a man-advantage. It was a power play kind of night, as six of the seven total goals scored were not on even strength.

The scoring summary was as follows:

(BC) 10:40 1st: Teddy Doherty (assist Hayes) – power play
(BU) 12:52 1st: Cason Hohmann (assists Gill, Megan) – power play

(BC) 1:59 2nd: Bill Arnold (assists Hayes, Doherty) – power play
(BC) 15:48 2nd: Mike Matheson (assists Whitney, Mullane) – power play
(BC) 16:38 2nd: Bill Arnold (assists Wey, Hayes) – power play

(BC) 4:16 3rd: Brendan Silk (unassisted)
(BU) 13:02 3rd: Evan Rodrigues (assist Noonan) – power play

York is the sort of unselfish personality who probably cares more about his team’s win than his own record, but everyone else is entitled to celebrate for him. His first attempt at breaking the record will be on Friday night at Providence.

All good things must come to an end, and for the Boston College men’s hockey team, it was their ten-game win streak.

On Friday night at Agganis Arena, the #9 Boston University Terriers handed the #1 Eagles their second loss of the season, 4-2. Boston College falls to 10-2 and Coach Jerry York has been stopped on his first attempt to tie the all-time wins record set by Ron Mason.

From early on, it seemed evident that Boston College didn’t have their A-game. The Terriers kept the Eagles from getting into a good rhythm for virtually the entire contest, and Boston College generated few flurries of activity down around the crease. There was plenty of passing, but BU’s goalie, Matt O’Connor, remained hot when those passes became shots on goal.

On the other end of the ice, Parker Milner certainly made some nice saves in his own right, but did not have the kind of game that O’Connor did. The Terriers put some good pressure on Milner, who still collected 30 saves despite allowing three goals in the loss. O’Connor allowed two goals but saved 35 en route to BU’s eighth win of the season.

For Boston College, this is a tip-your-cap sort of case, even despite the fact that Boston University is a hated rival. Some days, you get the bear, and some days, the bear gets you — Friday night at Agganis Arena was the latter for the Eagles, who were simply outplayed by the home team. From the BC perspective, it’s a major disappointment losing to Boston University, particularly on a night that could have been special for a venerable coach, but they are allowed to lose every now and then, especially early in the season. The good news for BC is that they have a chance at payback on Saturday.

The scoring summary was as follows:

(BU) 9:04 2nd: Garrett Noonan (assists Nieto, Rodrigues)
(BU) 16:04 2nd: Evan Rodrigues (assists O’Regan, Nieto)
(BC) 16:42 2nd: Pat Mullane (assists Gaudreau, Whitney)
(BU) 1:46 3rd: Matt Grzelcyk (assists Megan, Cisse)
(BU) 18:21 3rd: Wade Megan (assists Hohmann, Escobedo) – shorthanded empty-netter
(BC) 19:36 3rd: Johnny Gaudreau (assists Whitney, Matheson) – power play, extra attacker

These same two teams face off again on Saturday night at Conte Forum.

The Boston College Eagles men’s hockey team knows how to wrap up a good weekend. For the program, it was far more winning than losing, and for hockey in particular, two more wins were dropped in the bank.

On Sunday evening at Agganis Arena, home of the #12 Boston University Terriers, the #1 Eagles defeated BU, 4-2. It is Boston College’s eighth win in a row and two more Hockey East points. Their incredible streak which dates back to last season continues, as the Eagles have now won 27 of their last 28 games.

Boston College started the scoring just 43 seconds into the game, as Destry Straight fired a shot beyond Terrier goalie Matt O’Connor to give the Eagles a fast 1-0 lead (assisted by Hayes). Few could have expected that the game would have remained at that score for the remainder of the first period, all of the second, and over half of the third. Both teams had a number of opportunities in what was at times a frantic pace of hockey, but both O’Connor and Boston College’s Parker Milner held.

When the impasse was broken in the middle of the third period, it was Kevin Hayes who did it. At 11:01 of the final frame, Hayes found a crucial second goal for the Eagles, doubling the lead at 2-0 (assisted by Linell). Boston College’s third goal would come quickly thereafter at the 12:23 mark, and those who are familiar with BC hockey could likely guess who it was without much effort, because he seemingly scores a goal every day: sophomore Johnny Gaudreau. His seventh goal of the young season gave the Eagles a 3-0 lead (assisted by Mullane and Whitney).

Boston University was not done, however. On a 4-on-4 late in the third, the Terriers found some life as Matt Grzelcyk got BU on the scoreboard at 15:20 (assisted by Hohmann). The Eagles eventually responded, with Bill Arnold flicking the puck towards the empty net from long-distance at 18:02 while Boston University had a 6-on-4, giving BC an insurmountable 4-1 lead (unassisted).

The Terriers scored one last time in the very active last nine minutes of the game, which saw five pucks enter the nets. At 18:43, Alexx Privitera scored his first goal of the season on a power play, but it was too little, too late as the Terriers still trailed, 4-2 (assisted by Nieto and Gill).

Like any Boston College-Boston University hockey game, a number of penalties were called. Surprisingly, the Eagles went 0-for-6 on the man-advantage, but did score a shorthanded goal on Arnold’s empty-netter. Meanwhile, the Terriers went 1-for-7. Parker Milner saved 25 shots for his eighth win of the season, while the defeated O’Connor saved 20 in a valiant effort.

Though the Eagles struggled on the power play, they demonstrated with authority that tonight, they did not need it. For the vast majority of the game, Boston University was equally unable to score. Defense on both sides was good, though the Eagles did a little more and were able to grind out a hard-fought win just a few miles down the road.

Jerry York is now just four wins away from his record-setting 925th win, and he will get a chance for win #922 on Friday night at home against Merrimack.